The Care Dependency Scale: A cross validation study in inpatients with cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology Nursing
• Psychometrics
• Healthcare Assessment Tools

Background:

• Cancer inpatients often require significant care, highlighting the need for accurate dependency assessment.
• The Care Dependency Scale (CDS) is a recognized instrument for measuring patient dependency across various settings.
• Validating the Italian proxy version of the CDS for cancer patients is crucial for clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian proxy version of the Care Dependency Scale (CDS).
• To confirm the validity and reliability of the CDS in assessing care dependency among adult cancer inpatients in Italy.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre, cross-sectional, cross-validation study involving 517 adult cancer patients in Italy.
• The sample was randomly split into two subsamples for confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs).
• Factor structure was tested and cross-validated using CFA on both subsamples and the total sample.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated acceptable fit indexes across all tested samples.
• The study confirmed the two-factor structure: Physical care dependency and Psychosocial care dependency, with a second-order factor.
• Satisfactory internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were achieved for the CDS.

Conclusions:

• The Italian proxy version of the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) is a valid and reliable tool for assessing care dependency in cancer patients.
• The CDS facilitates the differentiation of physical and psychosocial needs.
• Findings support the use of the CDS to inform personalized patient care strategies in oncology.